The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) suggest the possibility of adding three more 5G licenses before 2024. This announcement was made by the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta. MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communication paid a sum of $273.6 million each for the 5G license won in December 2021.
Mafab and MTN Nigeria emerged as the two winning bidders of the 3,5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auction for the deployment of 5G technology in Nigeria in December 2021, following 11 rounds of bidding that lasted eight hours.
The payment status was officially certified by Umar Danbatta, the NCC’s executive vice-chairman, on Thursday, just as the deadline for the two winners of the spectrum auction passed.
“I wish to publicly inform that NCC has received and confirmed payments from MTN and Mafab for their 1 slot of 100Mhz each in the 3.5Ghz spectrum auction, which was successfully conducted by the Commission on December 13, 2021, “Danbatta said in a statement.
They both met the Commission’s deadline on February 24, 2022. “As a result of this, on behalf of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, the NCC Board and Management, I would like to congratulate MTN and Mafab on this achievement, as we look forward to completing other deployment timelines in the 5G deployment roadmap, as articulated in the National Policy on 5G Networks for Nigeria’s Digital Economy.”
According to the report, MTN paid an additional $15.9 million for the preferred Lot 1 (3500-3600 Megahertz-MHz) in the 3.5Ghz spectrum, while Mafab Communications settled for Lot 2 (3700-3800Mhz) at no extra cost, according to Danbatta.
Danbatta praised the two companies for their dedication to achieving the payment deadline.
This, he claims, demonstrates the Nigerian telecommunications sector’s sound regulatory framework.